election in iran

[Sean]

Originally Posted by cured

C'mon Sean, what do you think of the "investigation"?

Here's the problems with that:

1) Ballots were most likely destroyed, if not stored elsewhere
2) Who would conduct the recount, if there is one? Surely the same people who counted them in the first place, right?
3) Who does it serve if the investigation/recount turned up a different winner? There'd be widespread chaos. At worst, Ahmedinejad would lose a chunk of percentage points but remain comfortably over 50%.

I believe Khamenei has really misjudged this situation and is flailing at focusing the blame elsewhere. By directing some of it on the protesters, it only serves to prove, in their minds, that what they're doing is right and they need to push on.

If Khamenei wants to survive this process, he'll have to make a lot of concessions, but at this point I don't think he can do enough to reverse his stature, based on his last 2 speeches.

I was only commenting on the strategy of Khamenei's sudden proclamation that it was a "definitive victory" for Ahmadinejad only days after he called for an investigation into the election results. As for the investigation itself and how fruitful/effective/legitimate it would be, who really knows? The level of corruption involved in Iran (as in most places) is pretty insurmountable, so I doubt it would lead to any honest, constructive conclusions. I basically agree with everything you've said here.